40 Hands (Forty Hands)

After our walkabout around Tiong Bahru, we finally found 40 Hands (78 Yong Siak Street) to take a break from our walk & the sweltering heat. The cafe was pretty cramped & the indoor air-con sitting area was almost full, so we decided to sit at the non air-con backyard.

七星针

I heard about this plant many times from my mom about its rich medicinal properties but have never seen it for myself. My mom said that my aunt (my mom's elder sis) in Malaysia have this plant right in front of her old house, which I have never noticed.

这就是传说中的七星针.

Unique leave pattern which is just one of the plant features.

Look out for the thorny stem which is one of its distinctive attributes.

指甲花 (Henna)

During the walkabout at Tiong Bahru with my mom, we came across this plant. My mom told me this is known as 指甲花. When I Google this, I found that this is what we commonly know as Henna. Wow, so surprised to finally see the plant itself. Well, I really glad that I learnt something from our little excursion.

Tiong Bahru Walkabout 2

It seemed like not so long ago when I did my last walkabout at Tiong Bahru, so I was quite surprised to find that it had been slightly more than 2 years when I did my first Tiong Bahru Walkabout.

This time, I brought my mom along because she hasn't been here before, and I believe she'll enjoy checking out the ground floor mini gardens. 

I observed that there are more newly renovated units compared to my last visit, which wasn't unexpected since this is quite an up-and-coming neighbourhood for both the expats & local. I believe in time to come, most of the original shutter windows and iron grille might be gone forever.

Enjoy the pictures and see for yourself the differences between the first & second walkabout.

Oh, I've finally switched to the GF1 pancake prime lens which had been in storage for a long, long time. 

Berlayer Creek & Labrador Nature & Coastal Walk

I was looking forward to a day of fun sighting exotic fauna & flora but was disappointed because after walking for less than 15 mins, my mom & I realised that the variety of plants are the same few along the boarded walk. 

I was half expecting that we would be the lone visitors but was pleasantly surprised by the number of people along the way especially as we get closer to Reflections @ Keppel Bay.

Evergreenery Pte Ltd

Pioneer Garden

National Museum of Singapore

Armenian Church

Woodlands Waterfront

A little compensation after the disaapointment at Admiralty Park.

Admiralty Park

The trip to Admiralty Park didn't start off on the right note. I've researched online that SMRT bus no. 911 is one of the buses that can bring me to the park, however things didn't worked out as planned.

I didn't bother confirming with the bus driver before boarding the bus at Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange as I trust the info online to be correct. Upon reaching Woodlands Centre I thought the orientation was different and decided to check with the bus driver who told me that bus 911 doesn't go to Admiralty Park. Either the info online is incorrect or the bus driver is not familiar about the places along the route.

Since that's the case, we decided to alight and took a cab to Admiralty Park West Entrance (where Sakura International Buffet Restaurant is located), costing us $4.00.

The second surprise was when we reached the park which was deserted and held none of the excitement mentioned in the online eGuide. The lack of proper map & signs meant that we actually had to walk to the campus of Repblic Polytechnic before we managed to get our bearing and eventually head to the right direction.

Even then, the almost 3000m trek through the gravel path is anything but exciting.

Republic Polytechnic

We were actually on our way to Admiralty Park but kind of get lost and ended up at the campus of Republic Polytechnic. Eventually, we managed to get our bearing from a campus map, after a short break, we continued our way to Admiralty Park. 

Upper Seletar Reservoir

Labrador Park Walkabout

My first visit to Labrador Park was during my JC days when the SAJC campus was still at Mandalay Road, where we walked all the way from. 

Now, there is a bus service operated by SBS which drops visitors directly at Labrador Park, sparing us the long way. It is quite a distant to walk from the main road, at least 15 to 20 mins, so Parks 408 is the most convenient way to Labrador Park.

URA & HDB Gallery

3-D model of CBD, Marina Bay & Orchard.

Around Marina Square

I've been attending the DB Asia Conference at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre for the past 2 days, hence there were quite a few pictures of the surrounding area. And today, I actually took the wrong shuttle bus to Ritz Carlton so I made use of the opportunity to take a few pictures of these familiar sights.

  

Sands Expo & Convention Centre & Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Hotel Tower: For some reasons the corridors remind me of  HDB flats.

Thong Hup Gardens

My sis wanted to get some plants for her house so while they were busy hunting for the perfect plant, I occupied myself with taking pictures of the countless plants and flowers in the garden.

The place is so big and filled with so many different types of plants that I only know the name of a handful of plants and flowers. I almost had the whole place to myself because the place is really big so even with other customers around, we won't get into each other ways.

At the end of the visit, my sis bought the things she needed and I have my pictures and the perfect way to spend my afternoon in the midst of such beautiful blooms and greenery.

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

It's been so long since my last visit to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve that everything seemed totally different from the jungle-like memory I had of this place.

Didn't expect such a crowd at this place that we had to park our car almost right near the entrance from the main road and we still had to walk about 100 meters to reach the Visitor Centre.

Chinese Garden

It's Labour Day, no wonder there's a crowd at the Chinese Garden MRT Station.

When I was young, my parents will bring me & my sis together with their friends to Chinese Garden to celebrate Mooncake Festival which is one of my favourite festivals because we can carry lanterns (the real stuff, not battery-operated ones).